42 THE PATH OF PERFECTION | Moderation in Yoga 43

original living being. By Him even the great sages and demigods | ing. By the jfidna-yoga system, one attempts to understand the
are placed into illusion, as one is bewildered by the illusory repre- nature of the Absolute Truth in a philosophical way. In the bhakti-
sentations of water seen in fire, or land seen on water. Only be- yoga system, the target is the same. The methodology, however, is
cause of Him do the material universes, temporarily manifested somewhat different. Whereas the jfdniattempts to concentrate his
by the reactions of the three modes of nature, appear factual, al- . mind philosophically on the Supreme, the bhakta simply engages
though they are unreal. I therefore meditate upon Him, Lord Sri himself in the service of the Supreme Lord, and the Lord reveals
Krsna, who is eternally existent in the transcendental abode. Himself. The jana method is called the ascending process; and
which is forever free from the illusory representations of the ma- the bhaktimethod is called the descending process. If we are in the
terial world. I meditate upon Him, for He is the Absolute Truth.” darkness of night, we may attempt to attain the sunlight by
Thus from the very beginning of Srimad-Bhagavatam the Ab- ascending in a powerful rocket. According to the descending pro-
solute Truth is proclaimed to be cognizant. He is not dead or void. cess, however, we simply await the sunrise, and then we under-
And what is the nature of His cognizance? Anvayad itaratas stand immediately.
carthesu: ‘‘He is directly and indirectly cognizant of all manifesta- Through the ascending process, we attempt to reach the
tions.”” To a limited degree, each and every living entity is cog- Supreme through our own endeavor, through the process of in-
nizant, but we are not completely cognizant. I may claim, ‘‘This is duction. By induction, we may attempt to find out whether man is
my head,” but if someone asks me, ‘‘Do you know how many mortal by studying thousands of men, trying to see whether they
hairs are on your head?” I will not be able to reply. Of course, this are mortal or immortal. This, of course, will take a great deal of
kind of knowledge is not transcendental, but in Srimad- time. If, however, I accept from superior authority the fact that all
Bhagavatam it is stated that the Supreme Absolute Truth knows men are mortal, my knowledge is complete and immediate. Thus
everything, directly and indirectly. I may know that I am eating, it is stated in Srimad-Bhdgavatam (10.14.29), ‘‘My dear Lord, a
but I do not know the intricacies of the eating process—how my person who has received a little favor from You can understand
body is exactly assimilating food, how the blood is passing through You very quickly. But those who are trying to understand You by
my veins, etc. I am cognizant that my body is functioning, but I do the ascending process may go on speculating for millions of years
not know how these processes are working perfectly and all at and still never understand You.’’
once. This is because my knowledge is limited. By mental speculation, one is more likely to simply reach a
By definition, God is He who knows everything. He knows point of frustration and confusion and conclude, ‘‘Oh, God is
what is going on in every corner of His creation; therefore, zero.”’ But if God is zero, how are so many figures emanating from
from the very beginning, Srimad-Bhagavatam explains that the Him? As the Vedanta says (janmddy asya yatah), ‘‘Everything is
Supreme Truth from whom everything is emanating is supremely generating from the Supreme.’ Therefore the Supreme cannot be
cognizant (abhijfiah). One may ask, “‘If the Absolute Truth is so zero. We have to study how so many forms, so many infinite liv-
powerful, wise, and cognizant, He must have attained this knowl- ing entities, are being generated from the Supreme. This is also
edge from some similar being.’’ This is not the case. If He attains explained in the Veddnta-sutra, which is the study of ultimate
His knowledge from someone else, He is not God. Svarat. He is knowledge. The word veda means ‘‘knowledge,”’ and anta means
independent, and His knowledge is automatically there. “ultimate.”? Ultimate knowledge is knowledge of the Supreme
Srimad-Bhagavatam is the supreme combination of both the Lord.
jfiana- and bhakti-yoga systems, because it analyzes in detail the So how is it possible to understand the form of Krsna? If it is
nature of that Supreme Being from whom everything is emanat- stated that God does not have eyes, limbs, and senses like ours,

